1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the disclosure relate in general to the field of computers and similar technologies and, in particular, to software utilized in this field. More specifically, it relates to a system, method and computer usable medium for maintaining persistent links to information stored on a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The volume and diversity of network accessible information continues to grow. Today, it is common for vast amounts of this information to be stored on the public Internet. However, the information may also be stored on a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a private intranet. Regardless of where it might be stored, locating the information that is needed, when it is needed, is an ongoing challenge for today's information user. In response, a number of current approaches to this issue implement software applications, generally known as “crawlers,” that systematically access and index information so that it can be subsequently retrieved. For example, if the information is stored in a Web page, its address or uniform resource locater (URL), metadata, and other search criteria within the page are processed by the crawler and added to a searchable index. The resulting indexed information can then be searched by a search engine using search criteria submitted by the user. Once users find the information they are looking for the location of the found information is typically stored as a bookmark in a browser application. Some browsers allow the user to annotate the location information to facilitate relocation of the information by the user at a later time.
Keeping track of migrated information presents significant challenges. Network-accessible information is often dynamic and it is not unusual for it to be revised, combined, reformatted, or moved. For example, there are times when information remains generally within a network domain location, but is moved to a different Web page. In other cases, the information is moved to a different Web site, a different server, or even a significantly different network address. It is even possible that some or all of the information may be deleted from its original location, resulting in a dead link. To address this issue, information site administrators will sometimes implement links at the original location that will redirect the user to a new location. However, this approach becomes impractical if the information is changed or moved on a frequent basis, as the information site could quickly become cluttered with redirection links.
Current solutions to this issue include having the crawler application re-index information sites on a periodic basis, with some information sites being re-indexed more frequently than others. Assuming the information has not been significantly changed or deleted, its new location can then be found by a user resubmitting their original search criteria, even if the original bookmark is no longer valid. These approaches presume that the information has been re-indexed since the searched-for information was last altered or moved. They also presume that the user is able to resubmit the original search criteria. If either or both of these presumptions is not true, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to relocate information that was previously located and bookmarked. As a result, users currently are unable to maintain persistent links to network-accessible information as its content is modified or its location is changed.